In a world where advertisements are displayed all around

In a world where advertisements are displayed all around, people are physiologically persuaded to consume products and services. Even a simple walk down a city street one may see bus signs, businesses, or benches covered with advertisements. This ad culture drives society to desire. Advertisements are designed to catch the attention of specific audiences in a way to make them believe that they need what is being promoted. Anything and everything can be promoted through advertisements from the intangible to material items. Therefore, the satisfaction to possess is on a rise.
Given that the particular advertisement I chose to pick a part was from a magazine, it is geared to a certain audience. I used a Forbes magazine that was published on December 26, 2017. Considering that Forbes is a business magazine with a conservative twist, the type of audience being addressed may be people of the middle- high class. Not only people with some type of status but those who own businesses or who are looking to move up in their lives may read Forbes. In addition, it is more likely that men would read this type of magazine being that more men are in business and the publishers are men. The statement that Forbes magazine is directed for men is supported when browsing the magazine because a great deal of advertisements are aimed for men. However, this magazine does not discourage women from reading it.
On the dennotive side, this advertisement is to simply sell Whiskey. The ad shows an oil painting of two cowboys on horses in what appears to be the rocky mountains of Colorado. This image is used as the background while there is a large bottle of original Whiskey on the left hand side. The bright yellow label on the bottle catches the readers attentions as it also relates to the mountainous atmosphere. The glass bottle itself and the cursive font has an old school touch making things truly feel as if we’re in the pioneer days. The white bold font in all caps makes a statement straight to the point that their brand of whiskey is the first in the area. Overall, the ad has a effective way in appealing to their male audience to buy whiskey.
On a connotative level, looking at the ad style the oil painting can be seen as a direct campaign aimed at a specific group of individuals. It can be argued that the cowboys signify the midwest due to their appearance and apparel and the scenery is undoubtedly in rural America. Demographics in this specific setting are primarily Caucasian which eliminates minorities being a target audience. A cowboy is also a very interesting choice. In cinema Cowboys are often depicted as the hero or savior over minority characters such as Native Americans or other people of color. It can be argued that this advertisement is aimed at midwest, blue collar Americans and is avoiding an audience consisting of minorities. In fact, this campaign might be intentionally targeting Caucasian Americans because they are not interested in targeting minorities and believe that Caucasians are superior. This can be analyzed once again through the typical Cowboy character that lifts up White Americans and neglects people of color. Therefore, the contradiction of the two cowboys is a signifier of race. While one is on a brown horse the other cowboy is on a white horse. Not only that, but the colors that the cowboys are wearing can signify the political parties of republican and democrat. If noticed, the cowboy with the red shirt on the white horse is placed above the cowboy wearing blue on the brown horse. Furthermore, only one of the cowboys has a bottle of whiskey, is that because the cowboy on the white horse of higher class?